The summit, the seventh Karimov will have with his Korean counterparts, is to be held on the sideline of the Uzbek leader’s participation in the inaugural ceremony of President Lee on Monday.

Spurred by the ``resources diplomacy’’ of the Lee administration, the bilateral relation and cooperation between the two countries will be drastically strengthened in the days to come, Deputy Foreign Minister Anvar S. Salikhbaev of Uzbekistan told The Korea Times.

Salikhbaev is in Seoul as the leader of an advance team to prepare for Karimov’s visit to Seoul.

He said, ``KoGas Corp. and Uzbekneftegas Co. will sign an agreement on establishing the $1.8-billion joint venture and construction of a gas processing factory in Uzbekistan in the presence of President Karimov on Sunday.

He also said that GM Daewoo Auto & Technology will produce 250,000 automobiles of two new brands a year in Uzbekistan starting from 2009, noting that Karimov will visit the Daewoo factory during his stay here.

Salikhbaev, who is making his 12th visit to Korea, said that the Lee-Karimov summit will focus on ways of further cementing the strategic cooperation and promoting Korean big firms’ advance into the central Asian country.

Also on top of the agendas will be the welfare of ethnic Koreans called ``Goryo people’’ in Uzbekistan, who he stressed are now ``enjoying political freedom.’’ The fact that Ambassador Vitali Fen is a Goryo is good evidence of this, he added.

The Uzbek government is very happy that Fen is the dean of the diplomatic corps in South Korea, he said. ``There are many Goryo heroes in our country.’’

Karimov visited here last in late March 2006 for a summit with President Roh Moo-hyun. Then Seoul mayor Lee awarded Karimov honorary citizenship of Seoul.